MAINTAINING THE HERITAGE OF NON-EUROPEAN CULTURES

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY, LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS

The National Museum of Ethnology at Leiden is possibly the world's oldest
ethnological museum and nowadays houses major collections from all parts of
the world. In addition to its responsibility to preserve the heritage of
non-European cultures, the museum also has the duty to open up these
collections to researchers from museums and from other scientific
institutions all over the world. These aims underline the role of the
National Museum of Ethnology as a museum of general ethnology and as a
centre of learning in the field of non-European cultures, more specifically
concerned with the historical anthropological connections, material
culture, and artistic manifestations.
Having established its position, the aim now is to strengthen its
international scientific position in collaboration with both Leiden Univer-
sity, as an academic centre of learning for non-Western sciences, and other
universities, with foreign institutions, including museums, and in
collaboration with embassies, international industry and business life, and
the Dutch governmental apparatus.

By Bep de Vries

The aim of the National Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde)
is to provide an image of the history and development of non-Western cultu-
res for this and future generations. As a new element, the museum is
focusing explicitly on both interactions between the various cultures and
on their contacts with western culture. It hopes thereby to encourage
understanding and respect for other cultures among a wide audience. 
The museum also aims to develop and display a wide range of activities for
a large audience, in collaboration with museums both in the Netherlands and
abroad, and with other cultural and educational institutions.
At present, the museum is undergoing extensive renovation. This operation
is not confined to the exterior of the museum, including the garden which
will be turned into a kind of museum-park, but also includes the public
exhibition galleries and the storage rooms. From the year 2000, the
completely refurbished museum will provide the visitor with an entirely new
display and a library and documentation centre to assist those wishing to
study the collections in more detail and use the reference library. 
Due to this remodelling, the public galleries are sometimes only partly
opened to visitors and the storing away of major parts of the collection
puts certain restrictions on the possibilities open for the exhibition
programme. Yet, the museum will make every effort to reduce the
inconvenience to a minimum and to continue presenting a varied programme to
the public, as well as to accommodating students and scholars.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The fact that the bulk of the objects of artistic and ethnographical
interest from non-European cultures in the Netherlands is now housed in the
National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden is the result of a combination of
circumstances in early nineteenth century Holland. After the French occupa-
tion of the Netherlands, ending with the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at
Waterloo, King William I (reigned 1815-1840) tried hard to re-establish
erstwhile Dutch control over large parts of insular Southeast Asia. After
the period of the British Interregnum, the Dutch administration resumed the
government of large portions of the Indonesian Archipelago and, in 1824,
the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (generally abbreviated to VOC), which
was liquidated in 1799 found a successor in the Nederlandse Handels
Maatschappij. Batavia, present-day Jakarta once again became the centre of
the Dutch trade with all of Asia. 
During the term of office of Baron G.A.G.Ph. van der Capellen as Gover-
nor-General (1816-26) of the Netherlands Indies, great attention was paid
to fostering interest in foreign. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the
mission of Prof. C.G.C. Reinwardt (1773-1854) who had been commissioned to
explore the colonies carrying out a thorough investigation of its pedology,
its natural history, and its culture. Although Reinwardt spent six years in
the Indonesian Archipelago, he published only very few of his findings. His
legacy to the country was the famous 's Lands Plantentuin, the botanical
gardens, in which many of the plants and trees collected on his travels
were cultivated, and the ethnographic and antiquarian items preserved by
the Bataviaasch Genootschap. The collections he intended to bring back to
Holland, alas, fell victim to repeated shipwrecks.
Proof of the king's great determination to further trade and industry and
of his wide scientific interests is that, in July 1816, he established the
Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheeden (Royal Cabinet of Curiosities) to
house the collection formed by Jean Theodore Royer, which he had been
bequeathed in 1814. This collection consisted mainly of Chinese and
Japanese curiosities, assembled by Royer in the second half of the eight-
eenth century. A letter from the commissioner-general in Batavia in 1817
addressed to the director of the Cabinet, confirms that the trading post on
Deshima, Japan, of which Jan Cock Blomhoff (1779-1853) was the chief from
1818, had been specifically requested to collect objects of interest for
the newly established Cabinet. It is probably this interest emanating from
the Netherlands which did indeed inspire Cock Blomhoff decide to bring
together a collection of Japanese artefacts. In 1818 he began by sending a
wooden model of the island of Deshima to the Cabinet, which was followed by
some more donations after his return in 1824. The bulk of his collection,
however, was offered for purchase on a purely commercial basis and was
bought by the king in 1826. In 1827, Cock Blomhoff completed the catalogue
he had made of his collection.
A few years later, when J.F. van Overmeer Fisscher (1800-48) also offered
his collection, formed in Japan in the years 1819 through 1829, to the
king, an advisory commission was installed, probably because Van Overmeer
Fisscher had been merely a clerk. Von Siebold, who formed part of this com-
mission, had to admit that the books, paintings, and coins especially
formed a valuable core of this collection. But, even though he wrote
somewhat disparagingly about the overall value of the Fisscher collection,
Von Siebold explicitly indicated that it might possibly harm his own
interests, the compilation of a large treatise on Japan, were the
collection to be acquired by some foreign country. It was thus bought by
the king in 1832.
As for the collection formed by Philipp Franz von Siebold himself, there
was probably never any doubt about whether it should be acquired. However,
although the principal decision had been taken as early as in 1831, it was
only in 1838 that it was officially purchased by the king, for a much
larger sum than either of the earlier two collections. Since the Royal
Cabinet of Curiosities could not even provide sufficient space to exhibit
all of the Fisscher collection, Von Siebold was given permission to keep
the collection in his house in Leiden, where it was opened to the public. 
In the years to come, the Siebold collection remained under his own
supervision, and under the supervision of his house-keeper during the times
Von Siebold was travelling in Europe. When leaving for his second journey
to Japan, in 1859, the collection was left in the custody of Dr. Leemans,
director of the Archaeological Cabinet. Leemans moved the collection to
more suitable premises, which were then called the National Japanese Museum
Von Siebold, the direct precursor of the later National Ethnographical
Museum which then already also housed objects from all over the world. In
1883, the majority of the non-European collections housed until then in the
Royal Cabinet of Curiosities were also moved to this museum. 
During the closing decades of the nineteenth century especially, the
collections of the National Ethnographical Museum, as it was then called,
were considerably augmented, expanding to contain objects from other areas,
such as Africa, Indonesia, Tibet, Siberia, Oceania, Central and South
America, in particular Surinam, and North America. Major acquisitions
included the transfer of large collections of Hindu-Javanese antiquities
and archaeological objects from Central and South America from the National
Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) to the National Museum of
Ethnology, in 1903. This is the way the museum came to obtain its now
world-renowned collection of Hindu-Javanese statues and the equally famous
`Leiden plate'. The acquisition of the important group of Benin bronzes
from Africa also dates from 1903. 
In the early twentieth century, the museum collections were further enri-
ched with valuable material from Indonesia, either presented as a gift to
the Dutch Government, or as a fortuitous by-product of interior upheavals. 
During most of this century, the museum's collections have grown at a
steady rate. However, major coherent collections brought together as a
result of fieldwork carried out by members of the museum staff only became
a more general practice after World War II. Since many of the earlier
collections have often also already been complemented by valuable
documentation, even today, these too can, still be considered unique
subjects for scientific research. 

THE PRESENT SITUATION AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
What makes the many collections of the museum so valuable for research is
not only the early date at which they were assembled, but also the fact
that the work of the early collectors has been continued over a longer
period of time, up to and including the present. It is this which will also
enable the Museum to realize in the future, at least in many instances, a
diachronic presentation of the cultures. In the renovated galleries, there
will be room for the permanent display of no less than 6000 objects (of the
total 200,000). Until that planned display has, indeed, been realized, the
museum will have to manage to continue its programme of temporary
exhibitions to the extent these are permitted by the ongoing construction
work. All of these will be complemented by additional activities, such as
guided tours, lectures, films and demonstrations, as well as by regularly
organized symposiums.

EXHIBITIONS IN 1995
For this year, the following exhibitions have been scheduled:

JAPAN AROUND 1850 
Impressive lacquerware, headrests, bowls and chopsticks, as well as many
more examples combining beauty and functionality, serve to illustrate the
everyday life of the merchant class in nineteenth century Japan. (for
several years)

DJENNž, AFRICA'S MOST BEAUTIFUL TOWN
Because its renowned architecture, Unesco has listed the city of Djenn‚
among the world's monuments. With detailed models and reconstructions, one
can almost walk through the city itself. Children, too, are in for
surprising discoveries. (until 27 August)

NETSUKE: JAPANESE CULTURE IN A NUTSHELL
Originally a functional device to prevent the loss of treasured objects
like pipes, tobacco-pouches, and medicine boxes, netsuke developed into
miniature sculptures serving the additional purpose of showing one's
refinement, wealth, or sense of humour. The almost reflex action of
collecting them probably dates back to the early nineteenth century, and
still continues today. (from 27 January until the end of the year, with
four different showings)

UKIYO-E: JAPANESE IDOLS AND IDEALS
An exhibition of a fine selection of Japanese prints from the collections
of the Museum and of the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - at both
locations. The Leiden venue focuses on the elegant beauties of Harunobu and
Utamaro and the actors on stage as seen by Sharaku and Toyokuni. Lovers of
the landscape prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige will find their choice in
Amsterdam, plus a wide array of the nineteenth-century feminine ideal of
beauty in the works of Eisen and Kunisada. (from 18 February until April)

MALUKKU TENGGARA, THE FORGOTTEN ISLES
A comprehensive exhibition devoted to the culture of the virtually unknown
South-eastern Moluccas, Maluku Tenggara, in which boats play an essential
role in symbolism. (from October 1995)

The museum also has its Society of Friends who, in addition to having free
entry to the museum, also benefit from extra activities such as special
lectures.

PUBLICATIONS
The museum has become world famous for the publication of a series of
volumes presenting the collections, primarily those of the Indonesian
Archipelago. In more recent times, a new series focusing on the collections
has been started, under the title of 'Collections of the RMV'. This series
will be continued from this year in a different format. In addition, the
museum issues the serial publication 'Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor
Volkenkunde', coming out at the rate of one or two volumes per year.

The museum is open on weekdays from 10 to 17 and on Saturday and Sunday
from 12 to 17 (closed on Mondays). A specialized bookshop is open during
the same hours.
Those wishing to consult the library - open in the afternoon only - are
advised to call in advance (071-168800). 
Monthly leaflets giving details on all programmes conducted in the museum
can be obtained even at the entrance.

Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde
Steenstraat 1
P.O. Box 212
2300 AE Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-71-168800
Fax: +31-71-128437

Bep de Vries is Public Relations Officer for the Rijkmuseum voor
Volkenkunde, Leiden.



DRIE FOTOS:(behorende bij de  voornoemde tentoonstellingen)
1. Japan anno 1850. In the 19th century it was customary for women to paint
their faces white. Photo: Collectie Prentenkabinet, RUL. Copyright:
Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde
2. "Small Hare', Netsuke, carved from elephant ivory. Photo: Carol Winkel.
Copyright: Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde
3. Woman  reading a letter (1792) from the series 'Ten types of women' by
Utamaro (1754-1768). Copyright Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde